A
Study By
Gary
Ray Branscome
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge."
(Proverbs 1:7)
While
many people talk about the fear of God, very few have a clear understanding of
what it means, and most think of it in connection with God’s wrath. However,
rightly understood, the fear of God is a righteous response to the Law of God,
and thus a response that precludes works righteousness. For someone who has
been convicted of his sin and is aware that God’s law condemns him to all of
the torments of hell, such fear means abject terror. Nevertheless, that terror
should cause him to receive the good news of forgiveness in Christ with
rejoicing. Thus, the fear of God goes hand in hand with His mercy. As it is
written, "The Lord takes pleasure in those who fear Him, in those who hope
in His mercy" // "As the heaven is high above the earth, so great is
His mercy toward them that fear Him" (Psalm 147:11, Psalm 103:11&17).
So we see that the fear of God leads to faith in Christ, and faith in Christ is
the beginning point of Biblical theology (Psalm 111:10, Proverbs
THE
FOUNDATION OF BIBLICAL THEOLOGY
Since the Holy Spirit brings us to
faith through the Word of God, not apart from it, faith in Christ and faith in
the Bible go hand in hand (Romans 10:17). Without the testimony of Scripture we
might not even know that Christ died, much less that He died for our sins, and
without the work of the Holy Ghost we would never believe it (1 Corinthians
12:3). For that reason, our faith is not in Christ apart from God's written
Word, but in Christ as He is revealed to us through God's written Word (2 Peter
1:4). And in bringing us to faith in Christ the Holy Spirit instills in us
faith in His Word (John
Although the Bible contains many
references to its own inspiration (Matthew
While worldly-minded
"theologians" make philosophy the starting point of their theology, a
true disciple of Christ will read the Bible with eyes of faith, and will not
look outside of it for doctrine (John 8:31). In fact, because our faith in the
written Word is so closely tied to our faith in Christ, a theology that is in
full accord with the fear of God seeks only to learn, and faithfully convey to
others, what God has revealed, "line upon line, line upon line; here a
little, and there a little" without adding to or taking from what is
written (Isaiah 28:10, John 8:31, Proverbs 30:6, Revelation 22:18-19, Mark 7:7,
1 Timothy 6:1, Proverbs 4:2).
CHRIST
CENTERED THEOLOGY
Because the Bible was written to
testify of Christ, faith in Christ is of key importance in understanding what
it says (John
God not only knows how dependent our
faith is on the witness of Scripture, but He intended it to be that way (1 John
Because God intended for the Bible to
be the basis of our faith, what it says is not dark, hidden, or hard to
understand. In fact, God tells us that the message He has for us is nothing
other than what we "read," and that He has used "great plainness
of speech" (2 Corinthians 1:13 and 3:12). The Bible was written to reveal
the gospel, not hide it (1 John
Once we
understand that we are justified by faith, it becomes obvious that the law was
never intended to make us righteous, but was instead intended to show us our
sin and need of a Savior (Romans 3:10-20 and 5:20). In short, the law convicts
us of our sin, while the gospel assures us of forgiveness in Christ. That
knowledge is known in theology as THE PROPER RELATIONSHIP OF LAW TO GOSPEL, and
Martin Luther described the way in which law and gospel work together this way:
"Now
the way to true Christianity [the way of salvation] is this, that a man do first acknowledge himself by the law, to be a
sinner and that it is impossible for him to do any good work… The second part
is: if thou wilt be saved, thou mayest not seek
salvation by works, for God hath sent His only-begotten Son into the world, that we might live through Him." (Commentary on Galatians,
page 68)
Understanding the way of salvation is
important because the law is God's message to the unrepentant, while the gospel
is His message to those who repent (1 Timothy 1:9). Of
course, after we come to faith we still use the law. However, because we trust
in Christ, God is not speaking words of condemnation to us through the law.
Instead, we use the law to judge ourselves, and to condemn any unclean desires,
thoughts, or words that arise in our hearts (1 Corinthians
A
BETTER GUIDE THAN REASON
At present, those who hold God’s Word
in contempt dominate our academic culture. In keeping with their contempt, any
disagreement between their views and the Bible is portrayed in terms of faith
verses reason. However, if they would actually use their reason, they would
soon discover that all of their reasoning rests on assumptions. Therefore, what
they portray as "faith verses reason," could be more accurately
described as "assumptions verses revelation."
For
example: Their claim that the Bible contradicts itself assumes that since the
truth cannot contradict itself, it will never appear to contradict itself.
However, reason itself tells us that assumption is false, for the truth often
appears contradictory to those who do not know how it all fits together. The
fact that iodine is poison appears to contradict the fact that we need some
iodine in our diet. The fact that positively charged particles repel each other
appears to contradict the fact that positively charged protons bind together in
the nucleus of an atom. The fact that colder water sinks to the bottom of a
pond appears to contradict the fact that ice forms first on the top. Yet the
fact that these truths appear to contradict does not make them any less true.
Likewise, just because some things in the Bible seem contradictory to our puny
finite minds does not make them any less true. In fact, they only appear to
contradict in the eyes of those who do not understand what is being said.
GOD
GIVEN DOCTRINE
Those who close their mind to what the
Bible has to say, often claim that what it says is all a matter of opinion. Yet
that claim can easily be shown to be false. Is it only my opinion that the
Bible says, "Not by works of righteousness that we have done, but
according to His mercy He saved us," or is that an objective fact that
anyone can verify simply by looking up Titus 3:5? Is it only my opinion that
the Bible says, "A man is justified by faith
without the deeds of the law," or is that an objective fact that anyone
can verify simply by looking up Romans
While those who lack the fear of God
may deny and explain away the words of Scripture, those who truly fear God will
readily hear what the Apostles and Prophets have written, will speak according
to it, and will not depart from it (1 John 4:6, Isaiah 8:20, John 8:31).
CONCLUSION
The
fear of God goes hand in hand with faith in Christ, and faith in Christ goes
hand in hand with faith in God’s written Word. For that reason, a truly
Biblical theology will begin and end with faith in Christ, while seeking only
to faithfully present those truths God has given us in His Word, to the
exaltation of Christ and the salvation of souls.